Lace-fastener.



H. F. LEVL LACE FASTENER. APPLICATION FILED MAR. 16, 1909'.

Patented Nov. 8, 1910;

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HARRY F. LEVI, OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

LAGE-FASTENER.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HARRY F. LEVI, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, residing at Pittsburg, in the county of Allegheny and State ofPennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inLace-Fasteners, of which the following is a specification, referencebeing had therein to the accompanying drawing.

This invention relates to lace fasteners, and more particularly tocertain improvements in the lace holder disclosed by my application forpatent March 27, 1908, Serial No. 423,655 and allowed October 17, 1908.

The present invention aims to provide a.

fiat fastener made of light and durable metal that will not interferewith or injure trousers extending down over them, the fasteners beingprovided with integral means whereby they can be easily and quicklyfastened to conform to the shoe in connection with which they are used.

Another improvement in the present case over my prior applicationresides in the simplicity of construction, the shape of said fastenersbeing such that they can be readily cut and stamped from sheet metal.

The above objects are attained by a structure that will be hereinafterdescribed in detail, and reference will now be had to the drawings,wherein there is illustrated the preferred embodiments of the invention,but it is to be understood that the structural details thereof can bevaried or changed without departing from the spirit or scope of theinvention.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of the upper of a shoeprovided with the lace fasteners. Fig. 2 is a plan of a blank lacefastener prior to being bent, Fig. 3 is a similar View of a bentfastener, and Fig. 4. is a side elevation of the same.

The reference numeral 1 designates the upper of a shoe provided withhooks 2 adapted to be engaged by a shoe lace 3 having ends 4.

The fasteners are secured to the upper 1 of the shoe adjacent to eachhook at the upper end of the upper and said fasteners are to receive theends 4 of the shoe lace 3 and hold the same so as to maintain the shoeclosed. Each fastener comprises an S- shaped plate comprising a body 5,and oppositely projecting tongues 6, said tongues being parallel andconnecting with the body 5 by shanks 7, said shanks having taperingSpecification of Letters Patent. i

Application filed March 16, 1909.

Patented Nov. 8, 1910.

Serial No. 483,700.

prongs 8. The inner edges of the tongues 6 in connection with the sideedges of the body 5 provide slits or openings 9 which extend in parallelplanes. The inner walls of the slits or openings 9 are formed by theshanks 7, but the inner wall of one slit or opening 9 is out ofalinement with respect to the inner wall of the other slit or opening 9whereby a lace extending through said slits or openings and engaging thesaid inner walls will have that portion thereof bearing upon the body 5disposed at an angle and tending to bend the lace upon the body 5 andagainst the tongues 6 whereby the lace will be prevented from movementexcept when swung out of the slits or openings 9. The prongs 8 areadapted to be bent at right angles to the body 5, as shown in Fig. 4 ofthe drawings, whereby the prongs can-be forced through the material ofthe upper 1 and clenched upon the inner side of the upper to positivelyretain the body 5 of each fastener, in the shank thereof in engagementwith the upper of the shoe.

To facilitate the placing of the ends 4 of the lace 3 in the slits oropenings 9, the tongues are offset with respect to the body portion, asclearly shown in Fig. 4, and the free ends of each of the tongues extendoutwardly in a curvilinear manner. The offsetting of the tongue willcause the major portion of said tongue to extend in a horizontal planeparallel with the body 5, which, in connection with the curved end ofthe tongue, permit of the ends of the lace being quickly placed underone tongue and over the opposing tongue to bind the lace upon the bodyportion 5.

The fastener can be used in connection with gloves, corsets, and wearingapparel for holding the ends of the lace.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new, is

A lace fastener comprising a verticallydisposed body-portion having aright-angu larly disposed shank at each end, said shanks extending inopposite directions with respect to each other, a tongue formed integralwith each of said shanks and extending in opposite directions withrespect to each other and at right angles to its respective shank, theinner edges of said tongues in connection with the side edges of thebody-portion providing a pair of slits for the reception of a lace, eachof said tongues at its juncture with its respective shank off-set,whereby each of said tongues will extend in a lateral In testimonywhereof I afiix my signature plane to one side (If the pianie inWhichhthe in the presence of two Witnesses. bodyortion exten s, said 0y-portion aving e ch of its outer corners cut-away and HARRY LEVI 5rounded, and each of said shanks having its Witnesses:

longitudinal edge provided with a fastening K. H. BUTLER, prong. 2| A.J. TRIGG.

